Vigil at the British Medical Association

Men Do Complain held a vigil on Wednesday 22nd of February outside the  B.M.A. Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9JP. We got there at 08:30 and stayed until the rain, cold and wind overcame us. The reason for the vigil was that the B.M.A. were discussing ethics and once again the non-therapeutic cutting of boy’s genitals was not on the agenda. The vigil went very  well and the public really are on our side.

Several  circumcised men approached us and quite openly said that they were glad someone was taking a stand. One surprise was the number of friendly car hoots and we didn’t even have a sign saying hoot if you agree.

A lot of doctors on their way into the meeting made us feel very welcome. One quote was “You are so right may I take a couple of leaflets for my students?” We of course obliged.
A paediatric surgeon made it clear he was angry with his colleagues for continuing to circumcise children who have no need of such treatment and cannot give informed consent.

A big thank you to all those who turned out especially to our two photographers and to those who were coming in the afternoon but were prevented by the weather.

9 thoughts on “Vigil at the British Medical Association”

  1. Doctors participation in this abusive and profoundly unethical practice must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. I look forward to the day when doctors face prosecution for their sexual assault upon minors. I fear only then will children be safe from forced genital cutting at the hands of physicians.

    1. I’m very pleased to see that I’m not the only one who considers it sexual abuse.

      If parents handed their infant over to a third party for the purpose of fondling that child’s genitals all three would be treated as child sexual abusers and charged accordingly. Why doing the same for the purpose of mutilating that child’s genitals is legitimised continues to defy me.

  2. This makes me so happy to see!! I really hope it becomes illegal in Great Britain one day. If this was done in the US, you probably would have been insulted and things thrown at you. People here get EXTREMELY upset and defensive about infant circumcision. Most people are convinced that it is required for health reasons and that it looks nicer. Just plain ignorance. People need to do research on the topic. It is not medically necessary and therefore a parent does not have the right to decide how their child’s penis looks. It is selfish, irresponsible, and ignorant. Keep up the great work! -Jennifer at facebook page Miami Against Routine Infant Circumcision

  3. Congratulations on taking a stand. Please correct me if I’m wrong but I thought circumcision wasn’t routinely preformed on infants by doctors in the UK unless medically necessary.
    I thought only done for religious reasons by rabi or imams.
    As the mother of 2 sons the practice is abhorrent to me, no doctor however has ever mentioned cutting my sons to me.

    1. Thank you for your comment. You are quite right circumcision is an abhorrent practice. Shamefully doctors in the UK do circumcise boys at the behest of parents for religious or cultural reasons. The human right to manifest one’s religion does not give parents the right to irreversibly alter a child’s body.
      Boys have no protection from such assaults. A circumcision can be performed by anyone in any setting. Until society outlaws this practice doctors will continue to argue that it is safer for them to circumcise boys, though the safest thing is to leave boys intact
      Some doctors will also offer circumcision as the only treatment for very minor conditions that do have non-invasive solutions.
      The National Health Service spends approximately six million pounds each year on circumcisions that boys do not want or need.

    2. Cannot speak for the UK but in Australia it’s currently one in five newborn boys and increasing.

      Our federal government put over $600,000 toward promoting circumcision only a couple of years ago. In Melbourne and Sydney there are clinics which do nothing but circumcisions.

  4. Thank you for speaking out against this gross violation of human rights. It is very moving for me to see my fellow intactivists holding a public display to condemn the genital mutilation of children. I hope that others will be encouraged by your fine example to take a stand in their own communities.

    Jonathon Conte
    Bay Area Intactivists
    San Francisco

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